Heaven Dou City, Shrek Academy!
Two months have passed since Ma Hongjun returned to the academy, and his parents have settled in.
Tang San returned from Sunset Forest today; his deal with Poison Douluo is complete.
He raided Poison Douluo's lair and brought back many immortal treasures.
Ma Hongjun and Ning Rongrong had already consumed the immortal treasures, so they didn't get any this time.
The large-scale distribution of spoils began.
Dai Mubai's Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum and
two Eight-Petal Immortal Orchids suitable for support were given to Oscar and Xiao Yuanyuan, one each.
Zhu Zhuqing's Narcissus Jade Skin Bone
Longing Heartbreak Red, this immortal treasure full of legendary stories, was given to Xiang Chengxian. Unexpectedly, Xiang Chengxian actually accepted it.
In Ma Hongjun's opinion, this flower was a test of love. In the original work, Zhu Zhuqing tried it and failed, Grandmaster also tried it and failed, and in the end, Xiao Wu, who only had eyes for Tang San, succeeded. Now,
Xiang Chengxian was the first to try and succeeded, which was enough to prove that she truly loved Dai Mubai.
Ma Hongjun had also considered that if he were to try it on Zhu Zhuqing or Ning Rongrong, it would most likely not succeed, and he knew this in his heart.
He didn't force the other party to be completely devoted, just as he himself believed that as long as there was love, that was enough. Life is about gradual adjustment; it's impossible for everything to be perfectly compatible from the start.
It's worth mentioning that Xiang Chengxian's martial soul underwent a significant change after consuming the immortal delicacy. The malevolent energy within her martial soul transformed into pure black flames.
From her own experience, her martial soul no longer possessed the restless emotions that plagued it.
The master speculated that, like Ning Rongrong, her martial soul might have evolved with the help of the immortal delicacy.
In other words, the problem that had been troubling their Black Tiger family might have been resolved, and Xiang Chengxian's future achievements might extend beyond Soul Emperor.
The Acacia Heartbreak Red truly lived up to its reputation as a top-grade immortal delicacy, greatly enhancing her soul power, directly raising her level by five, almost catching up to Ma Hongjun.
Now, the strength of the eight of them...
Ma Hongjun, level 49; Xiang Chengxian , level 48 ; Dai Mubai
, level 45; Xiao Yuanyuan, level 40; Oscar , level 39; Ning Rongrong , level 39; Zhu Zhuqing, level 39; Tang San, level 39. On the surface, Ma Hongjun and Tang San seem to have the smallest increases, but their improvements weren't primarily reflected in their soul power. This is because they simultaneously consumed two immortal items, causing the two attributes to fuse within their bodies, primarily affecting their physical constitution. Ma Hongjun and Tang San's immunity to ice, fire, and poison already surpasses the increase in their soul power over these few levels. Most of them were on the verge of a breakthrough, so they began to cultivate diligently at the academy. Xiao Yuanyuan, accompanied by Liu Erlong and Grandmaster, went to Sunset Forest to obtain her soul ring. A month later, Ma Hongjun, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Tang San, and Oscar all broke through. Entering Sunset Forest again required five advanced soul beasts. On the first day, they were lucky enough to encounter a scorpion-like soul beast named Pink Lady, which became Oscar's fourth soul ring. However, their luck ran out over the next two days, and they didn't encounter any suitable spirit beasts. Since there were very few animal-type spirit beasts in Sunset Forest, and they all needed spirit beasts over a thousand years old, the search was extremely time-consuming. Tang San devised a method to attract spirit beasts with fragrance. Although this was somewhat dangerous, it was much simpler. He chose the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, right next to the poison array. With his back to the poison array, Tang San took out the Fragrance Orchid Immortal Herb. This herb had a strong attraction to spirit beasts; its fragrance could attract nearby spirit beasts. With Bai Baoshan's Heavenly Star Furnace, there wasn't much to worry about, unless there was a 100,000-year-old spirit beast, but there were no reports of 100,000-year-old spirit beasts in Sunset Forest yet. With his powerful defensive spirit douluo, survival shouldn't be a problem. Tang San took out a bottle of medicinal liquid and dripped it onto the Fragrance Orchid Immortal Herb, which would dilute the fragrance and isolate spirit beasts under a thousand years old. Soon, spirit beasts were drawn in, and the group retreated into the poison array. Within the array were antidotes made by Tang San, so they weren't afraid of being poisoned. However, these spirit beasts dared not approach. Even spirit saints wouldn't dare to force their way through the poison array created by Poison Douluo, and even ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts might not be able to withstand it. Therefore, these thousand-year-old spirit beasts dared not touch the poisonous mist at all. There were too many thousand-year-old spirit beasts, and they dared not go out and engage in battle. The older ones were certainly fine, but these younger ones might not be able to protect themselves. If they were surrounded, it would be dangerous, not to mention absorbing spirit rings. Moreover, a chaotic battle would easily kill too many spirit beasts, which was unnecessary. Using the poison array as a method of selection, they could choose spirit beasts suitable for them to hunt—perfect. They would observe within the poison array and then use the Flying Claw made by Tang San to capture the spirit beasts they needed.
With Tang San's Purple Demon Eyes quickly observing, Grandmaster helped Zhu Zhuqing choose a suitable soul beast: a Ghost Tiger around four thousand years old.
Considering their upcoming participation in the Advanced Soul Master Competition and the team's lack of defensive soul masters, Ning Rongrong's fourth soul skill was chosen to increase defense.
Therefore, Ning Rongrong selected a thousand-year-old Scaled Beast.
Tang San was still choosing; he had two targets: a six-thousand-year-old Human-Faced Demon Spider, the same as his third soul ring,
and a ten-thousand-year-old Earth Cave Demon Spider.
"Little San, that Human-Faced Demon Spider is perfect for you,"
Grandmaster said, pleasantly surprised. The Human-Faced Demon Spider was ideal for Tang San, enhancing his soul bone and martial soul.
"Teacher, I want to choose the Earth Cave Demon Spider." While
the six-thousand-year-old Human-Faced Demon Spider was a safe bet, it wasn't Tang San's ultimate goal.
Xiao Wu's departure spurred Tang San to cultivate even harder, coupled with Ma Hongjun's encouragement.
Tang San wasn't without confidence; although the risks were high, the rewards were equally great.
After undergoing the tempering of ice and fire, his body was greatly enhanced. Furthermore, he could absorb spirit rings at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, a treasure trove that could provide him with considerable assistance.
Ultimately, Tang San persuaded Grandmaster to choose a ten-thousand-year-old Earth Demon Spider.
Due to its unique movement, the Earth Demon Spider was difficult to catch with its flying claws, and it would flee when startled.
Ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts were extremely cunning.
Left with no other choice, Tang San and Flander gave chase.
However, a thousand-year-old Human-Faced Demon Spider blocked Tang San's path, and Tang San engaged it in battle.
The Earth Demon Spider was incredibly fast, and Flander quickly gave chase, disappearing from sight.
The others weren't worried about Flander; a level 78 Spirit Saint, and a flying spirit master at that, dealing with a ten-thousand-year-old Earth Demon Spider would be incredibly difficult. If it escaped, Flander would be utterly humiliated.
Ma Hongjun, Liu Erlong, Bai Baoshan, and others helped Ning Rongrong and the others protect them, preventing interference during spirit ring absorption.
Zhao Wuji helped Tang San block other spirit beasts, allowing him to focus on the Human-Faced Demon Spider.
The Human-Faced Demon Spider is an evil and tyrannical spirit beast, so killing it is normal. Unlike other spirit beasts, there's no need to hold back.
Therefore, Tang San used his Eight Spider Lances, spending some time to kill the Human-Faced Demon Spider.
However, while Tang San's Eight Spider Lances were killing the Human-Faced Demon Spider, this external spirit bone actually absorbed the spider's energy again.
This was also an external spirit bone from the Human-Faced Demon Spider, meaning it was very likely that this Human-Faced Demon Spider had also developed the same spirit bone and was then assimilated by Tang San.
Sure enough, after Tang San finished absorbing it, his Eight Spider Lances were strengthened once more.
At this point, Tang San was even more confident in absorbing the spirit ring of the ten-thousand-year-old Cave Demon Spider.
A short while later, Flander returned carrying the Cave Demon Spider.
Now only Ma Hongjun hadn't found a suitable spirit beast.
Ma Hongjun's body could currently withstand spirit rings of about fifty thousand years, but so far, the only spirit beast attracted to this forest was a ten-thousand-year-old Cave Demon Spider.
Helpless, he had to put away the Fragrant Silk Immortal Item for now. Let's wait until Tang San and the others have finished absorbing their spirit rings.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing took about three hours to successfully absorb their fourth spirit rings, thus advancing to the Spirit Master level.
Tang San chose to absorb his spirit rings at the spring of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Because it involved absorbing beyond his limits, it was relatively difficult for him, and he didn't succeed until the next morning.
"In this Sunset Forest, spirit beasts over ten thousand years old are extremely rare, and those over fifty thousand years old are even rarer.
If Hong Jun wants to obtain his fifth spirit ring, he might have to make another trip to the Star Dou Great Forest,"
Flander frowned. Making a trip to the Star Dou Great Forest would be a huge waste of time.
"There are actually quite a few ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, but the beast-type ones are relatively few. Plant-type ones are abundant; legend has it that a hundred-thousand-year-old plant-type soul beast even appeared in Sunset Forest.
I think we can delve deeper to take a look. Plant-type soul beasts aren't unsuitable for Hongjun.
Moreover, at the ten-thousand-year level, soul beasts are already extremely powerful, with a qualitative difference; the distinction between beast-type and plant-type isn't as important.
Furthermore, Ma Hongjun's martial soul is a weapon-type silver spear. If we find a high-quality plant-type soul beast, it might bring some surprises,"
the master analyzed.
Liu Erlong immediately decided,
"Since we're already here, let's go deeper and take a look. Finding a suitable one would be best, but if not, we can still make another trip to the Star Dou Great Forest."
The group set off again, heading deeper into Sunset Forest.
(End of Chapter)